by Mark Worth

Revealing the inadequacy of the world’s second-oldest whistleblower system, a new report finds UK officials release “scant or no information at all” about what happens to disclosures after citizens submit them. Many UK public agencies that are legally required to investigate whistleblower reports provide “generic or vague” information about their responses to the disclosures, according to the London-based NGO Protect. In a “significant” number of cases, the agencies took “limited or no action” or did not provide enough information about what – if any – action they took when a citizen reported crime or corruption. Continue reading…

by Daniel Vaknine

When it comes to whistleblowing within an organisation, it is a good idea to use a whistleblower system. In short, this is a system that allows employees to report wrongdoings internally. In this article, I’ll go through the different types of whistleblower systems that are available so that you can gain an increased awareness of what methods are available. This in turn makes it easier to decide which methods your organisation can or should offer.

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Barclays have referred their Decision Notices to the Upper Tribunal. Any findings in the Notices are therefore provisional and reflect the FCA’s belief as to what occurred and how it considers the firms’ behaviour should be characterised. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has decided to fine Barclays a total of £50 million in relation to its failure to disclose certain arrangements agreed with Qatari entities as part of its capital raisings announced on 25 June 2008 and 31 October 2008. Barclays’ conduct in the October capital raising was reckless and lacked integrity. Continue reading…

by Mark Worth

Ten years ago the European Commission tersely said the idea of EU-wide whistleblower rules was out of the question. Today, the Commission is helping to lead the charge for stronger rights for people who report corruption. For evidence of this sharp turnaround, one need look no further than the Commission’s decision to escalate its infringement action against four EU countries that are tardy in passing whistleblower protection laws. On 29 September the Commission warned Austria, Belgium, Romania and Slovenia that they are “failing to fulfil their obligations” to comply with new rules. Continue reading…

The Commission has on 26 October adopted a legislative proposal to make instant payments in euro, available to all citizens and businesses holding a bank account in the EU and in EEA countries. The proposal aims to ensure that instant payments in euro are affordable, secure, and processed without hindrance across the EU. Instant payments allow people to transfer money at any time of any day within ten seconds. This is much faster compared to traditional credit transfers, which are received by payment service providers only during business hours and arrive at the payee’s account only by the following business day, which could take up to three calendar days. Instant payments significantly increase speed and convenience for consumers, for example when paying bills or receiving urgent transfers (e.g. in case of medical emergency). Continue reading…

The Financial Stability Board (FSB) recently published a report on liquidity in core government bond markets. The report forms part of the FSB’s work programme to enhance the resilience of non-bank financial intermediation (NBFI). Changes in core government bond markets over the past decade may have made them more prone to liquidity imbalances in times of stress. The severe dislocations experienced in those markets during the March 2020 turmoil were the outcome of large spikes in the demand for liquidity by various market participants, especially non-banks. Continue reading…

Kwayga, the leading online matching platform for national and international B2B buyers and suppliers within the food and beverage industry, has announced that it will be offering one year free premium membership to its platform to Ukrainian food and beverage suppliers as a way of supporting the industry during the ongoing conflict with Russia. The announcement came during the recent webinar hosted by Kwayga called ‘Ukraine is open for business’ and included speakers such as Taras Kachka, Deputy Minister of Trade Representative at the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine, Larysa Gerasko, Ambassador of Ukraine to Ireland and Mariia Dehtiarova, Export Promotion Manager at U-Food Association, whose mission it is to develop and promote Ukrainian food worldwide. Continue reading…

The Financial Stability Board (FSB) has published a proposed framework for the international regulation of crypto-asset activities. The core components of this framework are proposals for: recommendations that promote the consistency and comprehensiveness of regulatory, supervisory and oversight approaches to crypto-asset activities and markets and strengthen international cooperation, coordination and information sharing; and revised high-level recommendations for the regulation, supervision, and oversight of “global stablecoin” arrangements to address associated financial stability risks more effectively. Continue reading…